


red thread.

by ansutazu



Category: Ensemble Stars! (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, hh this is. very short.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-10
Updated: 2018-03-10
Packaged: 2019-03-29 10:15:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13925022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ansutazu/pseuds/ansutazu
Summary: i will never let this red thread be cut. //keichi one-shot.





	red thread.

**Author's Note:**

> this is. so short i'm crying i might delete this later it's kinda just meh,,,,, but for now, here it is.
> 
> yeah can i get uhh sarishinohara series,, akaito,,,

When the sound goes off for a received text message resonates from his phone, he finds himself (begrudgingly) slapping his hand on his nightstand, fruitlessly searching for the electronic that had awakened him from his long-awaited, much-needed sleep. When he manages to wrap his fingers around the device, he brings it close to him, opening up the screen only to see something of a blur — and that’s when he reaches out for his glasses as well, slipping them on with a disgruntled, annoyed, I-would-rather-be-asleep-right-now expression crossing his face.

He squints, opening the screen once again to read the text message. The time it had been sent was two twenty-five in the morning — that was A.M., _ante meridiem_ , a dimension in which the moon still hung over the heads of their country as the sun queues itself up for the day up ahead, a time frame in which he was _supposed_ to be getting what rest he could.

He finds himself grumbling over his circumstances, though he checks the message nonetheless, since he was already in a position to do so. There, rolled up in his blanket, squinting at the words on the screen — he finds ‘Eichi’ written in the dim yet bright screen light, and he immediately perks up, his familiar caution and concern overshadowing the annoyance that had washed over him just a few moments ago.

_> > Eichi: Sorry to text you at this time (I’m pretty sure I’m going to get a lecture), but I’m at your house right now._

_> > Eichi: Or rather, I’m at the front of the shrine. I have something for you, so if you can, please meet me. :)_

Attached to the message was a selfie of Eichi, smiling happily in lighting only the moon provided, sitting just where he said he would be, leaning against one of the shrine’s giant red pillars with slightly-ruffled bedhead. It seemed like his childhood friend had prepared for a photo shoot (and that in itself is a very frequent happening), the expression on his face and the relaxed pose seeming as if it could be found in a magazine as an advertisement for the white silk pajamas he wore, and for a moment, he wonders if that was just the case, and that his friend was pulling a prank.

But then he receives another text message, and he sighs.

_> > Eichi: I’m waiting~_

With his sigh, Keito unravels himself from his warm blankets (he would be sure to scold him the most on that fact), preparing himself face his mischievous childhood friend.

* * *

“What’s the meaning of this, Eichi? It’s so damn late — or early, but same difference. This better be something reasonable, or I’m sending you back home.”

He practically stomps his way to where Eichi had been waiting, and his childhood friend sits up, grinning with a bit of a halo formed by the moon’s light up above. So it seems as if the fallen angel couldn’t escape the heavens’ gaze, even when the night sky had put its dark blanket over the earth; even in a scenario in which Keito found himself half-awake (though he was trying his hardest to be at about ninety percent of his ability to be, well, Keito, or at least to the point where he wouldn’t make a fool of himself if he began to ramble), his childhood friend ethereal glow had persisted yet again, something that distracted him from the fact that Eichi began playing with a long piece of red yarn, his smile now turning all the more mischievous when Keito finally snaps back to reality.

“I just thought of something, and I couldn’t put it down. Fufu, I know I shouldn’t be up later than this, but this was something very important — to me, at least.” Eichi begins to tie one end of the red yarn to his pinky finger, talking to Keito as he did so (the latter had found himself too tired to truly retaliate, to scold him for his actions for the time being, though he assumed it would arrive very soon).

“We’re graduating soon, aren’t we? In just a few weeks, we’ll be given a piece of paper, free to do what we want to pursue in higher levels of education, in idol activities, in anything else that they tell us to dream of. At least, that’s the case for most people — for me, I’m probably going overseas to study for a bit, and then coming back to take over the family business. Well, that’s if I make it to that age of adulthood — it’s a worthwhile concern, and the future has been bleak since the beginning. Still, that means…I won’t get to see you as often. It’s a bit disheartening.”

Eichi finishes tying the red yarn to his finger, and he beckons Keito to hold out his own pinky. When he does so, Eichi takes the other end, beginning to tie it to Keito’s pinky as he continues. “But you see — and you might find this cheesy — I think we’re tied by fate itself. You’ve heard of the red string of fate, haven’t you? This physical representation won’t reach very far, but…”

He finishes tying it, letting go and letting the yarn dance in the breeze that swept through the shrine for a moment, letting out a satisfied expression as his blue eyes gaze deeper into Keito’s, a bittersweet yet hopeful feeling that takes Keito by surprise, though he doesn’t find it bad at all. “…it’s the thought that counts, as they say.”

“You really…” Keito pauses, understanding what Eichi had intended with just a piece of red yarn. He finds himself sitting down next to Eichi, shoulders barely touching, but enough to awaken him just a little bit more, as if an electric current had just run through him. It was indeed cheesy, but he puts his hand on Eichi’s head, patting it just like their childhood days, flattening out the blonde hair that had been sticking up before. “You’re annoyingly thoughtful to the end. Of course, I won’t leave your side that easily, so I’ll make sure this red string doesn’t get cut. We’ll definitely meet again.”

“I’m glad — fufu, I’m really glad I get to share this red string with you, Keito.”

“Same with you, Eichi.”

When the sun rose up that morning, Keito’s brother found the two leaning on each other with a relaxed look on both their sleeping faces, with the red string still intact.


End file.
